Boise State Broncos vs UCLA Bruins Picks and Prediction: December 16th Preview, Betting Lines and NCAAF Picks

It’s the most wonderful time of the year in college football, as Bowl Season arrives on December 16th with six games to open the festivities.

Our resident NCAA pigskin pundit Ej Garr produced an 8 – 3 record a year ago with his 11 Bowl Game tips, and he’ll kick off this year’s post-season with a play from the Boise State vs UCLA affair on Saturday.

• Selection: Boise State +4.5 Handicap
• Best Odds: 1.91
• Bookmaker: bet365
• Stakes: 4/10

Odds available as of December 14, 2023. Odds may now differ.

• Boise State Broncos vs UCLA Bruins Picks and Prediction
• Boise State Broncos vs UCLA Bruins Game Info
• Boise State Broncos vs UCLA Bruins Betting Lines
• Boise State Broncos vs UCLA Bruins Trends
• Boise State Broncos vs UCLA Bruins Stats & Form
• Boise State Broncos vs UCLA Bruins Where to Watch
• Safer Gambling

BOISE STATE BRONCOS VS UCLA BRUINS PICKS AND PREDICTION

It’s that time again, and for us hard-core college football fans, it is the most wonderful time of the year. Including the National Championship Game that will be played on January 8, 2024, there are a total of 42 games that will be played around the country.

I will be covering seven of the 36 December bowls here at Bettingexpert. When January gets here I will be previewing nearly every one of those January 1st games before wrapping up the campaign with the CFP title game.

Let’s start with the game being played between Boise State and UCLA and this is one of six games on the schedule today to open Bowl Season. UCLA is slightly favoured at -4.5 on the handicap, and the total is showing 49 at Bet365.

I must admit that I am a bit shocked that UCLA is listed as the chalk and we don’t even have to buy any points to cover game at +4.5. UCLA completely fell apart to end their Pac 10 regular season schedule going 1 – 3 in their last 4 games because of a lackluster offense. Somehow amid that run, UCLA handed USC a 38 – 20 thrashing, but we also know that the Trojans’ season ended in disaster too.

The Bruins’ Total Under was 10 – 2 this season, and it may come as a surprise to people who follow trends and stats because on paper the Bruins’ offense ranks high in many categories. UCLA averages 191.2 rushing yards per game, and that ranks them 21st in the entire nation. The 4.7 yards per rush is good enough to be ranked 36th in the land, but their leading rusher Carson Steele might not be available for this game and that is a problem for the Bruins.

Steele put up 846 yards on the ground and added 163 more yards in the passing game with a combined 8 trips to the end zone. His absence from this game will be noticed, and that’s even more reason why I find this -4.5 chalk on UCLA worth a fade.

The Broncos ended the regular season with 4 straight wins to arrive at this Starco Brands LA Bowl on Saturday, and that includes a Mountain West Conference Championship Game win over UNLV. Boise State.

I have 2 words for you, and he happens to wear the #2 on his jersey! Ashton Jeanty! That dude runs the ball with his head down and with bad intentions to make defenses pay! Jeanty produced two games with over 200 rushing yards and he arrives at the LA Bowl with an impressive 1266 rushing yards and 14 scoots to paydirt.
Let’s not forget the 5 TD in the passing game, as he has 552 receiving yards listed as the second-best wideout on this entire Boise State roster!

We’re taking the underdog and putting the +4.5 points in our pockets to start bowl season!

• Selection: Boise State Broncos +4.5 Handicap
• Best Odds: 1.91
• Bookmaker: bet365
• Stakes: 4/10

Odds available as of December 14, 2023. Odds may now differ.

BOISE STATE BRONCOS VS UCLA BRUINS GAME INFO

• Saturday, December 17
• Time: 00:30 UK Time
• Venue: SoFi Stadium, Inglewood, CA

BOISE STATE BRONCOS VS UCLA BRUINS BETTING LINES

BOISE STATE BRONCOS VS UCLA BRUINS TRENDS

• The UCLA Bruins Total Under is 10 – 2 in 2023.
• The Broncos are 5 – 1 – 1 ATS vs. a team with a winning record.
• The Bruins are 1 – 5 ATS in their last 6 games on field turf.

BOISE STATE BRONCOS VS UCLA BRUINS STATS AND FORM

• The UCLA Under is 10 – 2 this year, but in direct opposition to that the Boise State Over is 10 – 4 in their last 14 games.
• The Bruins ended the regular season losing 3 of their last 4 games while the Broncos ended the regular season with 4 straight wins that included a win in the Mountain West Conference title game.
• This is the first meeting between these two programs.
• The UCLA offense averages 25.2 PPG which ranks them 80th in the nation.
• The Boise State defense allows 24.8 PPG which ranks them 60th in the nation.
• The Boise State offense averages 32.9 PPG, which ranks them 32nd in the nation.
• The UCLA defense holds opponents to 18.1 PPG which ranks them 15th in the nation.

BOISE STATE BRONCOS VS UCLA BRUINS WHERE TO WATCH

This game will be telecast on channel ABC in the United States, and can also be found on ESPN+ for subscribers.

SAFER GAMBLING

At bettingexpert, we always take a safe approach to gambling. We’ll never bet more than we can afford or chase losses. For more advice, head to our Safer Gambling hub.